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Before Drew Le Lieu was a customer liaison and designer-in-training at California Closets Kansas City, he just wanted a dream closet of his own.
“My husband and I were building a home, and, of course, I always wanted a dream closet for my dream home,” says Le Lieu. “I had always tried DIY, but I wasn’t a designer at that time. We realized we needed to treat ourselves to this experience and get a professional in the space.”
So, like any consumer, he shopped around. “And let me tell you,” he says, “there’s a reason I went with California Closets. The experience is like none other.”
He was wowed by the California Closets’ first impression. The staff took him seriously, even when his home was over a year from completion. His designer asked about his needs, his husband’s needs, their inventory and style preferences, and then digitally designed the spaces—a closet and an office—on site.
He was wowed by the company’s last impression, too. The installers were courteous and swift, and the designs were true to his needs and fit to his space. “They walk in and literally make the magic happen in front of your eyes,” he says. The space was so functional, so optimized—and the cherry on top, it was beautiful.
And what Le Lieu says he’s most wowed with is the lasting impression. “I’ve lived in this home now for over a year; the joy of the systems that we have with our closet and my husband’s office—I walk in every morning and I’m so happy to be in this space.”
The Consultation
Le Lieu’s experience is the epitome of what California Closets has done for Kansas Citians since it came to town in 1987. They learn homeowners’ needs and design one-of-a-kind organizational spaces—such as closets, offices, mudrooms, and pantries—that are beautiful and hyper functional. Each system is cut to the space’s exact dimensions at the Kansas City workshop.
It starts with a consultation. It’s free and lasts around 90 minutes—often right in your home. Le Lieu remembers his initial consultation with designer Ashley Taylor fondly.
“It felt like they cared about my space, they cared how this was going to function for my daily life,” says Le Lieu. “They looked at my inventory. They asked what is important to me and my partner. They really were open to me just kind of spewing all my thoughts and ideas, and then they really honed what I was saying into this design that functions for me.”
Le Lieu was right there with her, a constant focus, his needs and preferences a guiding light for an optimized design.
“That’s what I loved—as they’re creating the design in the 3D CAD system, they say, ‘Okay, how does this work for you? How can I tweak this? You told me you wanted shoes here—how many shoes do you have? Does that look appropriate?’
They arrived at the perfect design, and Taylor checked back in as his home-build progressed. Before long, it was time for installation.
The Install
The Le Lieus’s had two rooms designed, and even so, installation took just two days. The typical installation only takes one.
“The installers were amazing. They came in, they respected my home, and they were very efficient. I had a dog in the home, and they were very friendly with my pet, and that meant a lot to me,” Le Lieu says. “You didn’t even know they were there. They started in the morning they left in the afternoon. They were in and out really quick and easy.”
He remembers seeing that 3D design come to life, all the bits of practical magic that cleared out space and added storage all at once. The lighting, the craftsmanship, the way he could see where everything belonged.
Your Daily Life
“You always get a good impression of us, whether it’s the first impression or the last impression. But what matters most is the lasting impression, which is your daily life,” says Le Lieu.
It’s easy to see how California Closets made an impression on him. He loved it so much he applied to work there, where he’ll eventually pull from the team’s 60-plus years of design experience to help Kansas Citians build dream spaces of their own.
This impression, though, starts long before he heads off to work in the morning.
“My closet isn’t an afterthought. It’s a space I’m always in. I start my morning that way; I end my day that way when I come home to change my clothes. California Closes really maximized the space and transformed it into a functional design that lets me feel so much happier every day.”
Le Lieu is just a few months into his training at California Closets, and it has only deepened his appreciation for what they do.
“It really was nice to go through that experience, design a space, and collaborate with a designer,” he says. “Now that I’m an employee here, I learned very quickly that our passion is to make a space for what belongs.”
“You’ll automatically get a beautiful-looking closet with California Closets, but our focus is making sure your daily needs are taken care of. Our job is to create a system for you that makes your life feel organized, and you didn’t even realize it needed it.”